Surprises
by Warden Whitetree
Summary: Kotor & Firefly. Post Kotor II, the most of the gang goes in search of a new threat to the Republic and break down in Firefly space. Lucky them, the crew of Serenity is there to help. Hijinks will ensue:
1. New Allies

Everything that belongs to Lucas/ Bioware/ Obsidian is (c) by them. Serenity and crew and anything that's his (c) Joss Whedon. Anyone who has not seen either the Firefly series or the Serenity movie, go watch them! 

* * *

"I still don't see why you need me." Sionet pouted at the helm, watching the gauges to make sure that the trail they were blazing was safe.

"You're the only one foolish enough to risk you ship blazing new hyperspace routes." Canderous took off his helmet. Even in the darkness of space, the helmet was still hot.

"Saluira had to pull puppy eyes while telling me just how much money I would get for doing this. I never could say no to that combo." Sionet glanced over at the old mandalorian with his steel hair cut short and a full beard. Sure, she had helped the Republic in the war, but she was comfortable in his presence. It probably had something to do with Shinobu. Shinobu had traveled with Canderous before, so he wasn't likely to make trouble. Tack on all the other Jedi on her ship, and it was damn impossible to think anything without the rest of the crew knowing.

Sionet thought over the last few of years. They had been hell, no two ways about it. Shinobu was forced to carry Darth Revan's memories, to play her while saving the galaxy. What the council did to her almost lost her the love of her husband, Carth Onasi. He had been a captain at the time and was now an admiral. _That role just about killed her physically, too_. Sionet knew her during the war. Both had run parts, medical supplies, weapons, you name it for the Republic during the war. There, they had met with General Isled ap Owain and Brigadier General Saluira Nolan. Somehow, they became sisters.

Saluira had been wounded near the end of the war. Sionet wasn't sure, but somehow, Saluira ended up turning her back on both the Jedi Order and Revan. She followed Shinobu and became what others called 'noble smugglers'. Sionet knew that Saluira had angered a lot of hutts by running their slaves back to their homeworlds. It had been her running wookiees that had let her meet her husband; Galvin Ofera, pilot and rake.

Isled had surprised everyone by returning to the Order after the war. She'd been exiled, which annoyed Sionet no end. Ten years later she returned to fight off Sith, Sith lords, make new friends, and fall in love with Atton Rand, also a pilot and scoundrel. After fighting a witch who had become her mentor for most of the trip, Isled left for the Unknown Regions to find Revan. When Isled came back, she told everyone that Revan was fighting the True Sith, and that Isled felt she was needed by the Republic.

Needless to say, Atton jumped up and married Isled before she could blink. Sionet was happy for all three of them. She knew that once they could see past their own husbands, they might try to play matchmaker for her, but that didn't worry Sionet. She never stayed in one place long enough for anyone to make a match. Her ship, the _Gilded Seishou_ and the sky was all she needed.

Turning her head at a noise, Sionet looked up to see Saluira walk in. She was a petite woman who seemed to almost float everywhere. Her light brown hair was braided and coiled at the back of her head. Her light skin almost glowed in the light from the console in front of Sionet, aiding her urethral beauty. Her blue eyes were taking in the small cockpit.

"How's it going?" Saluira looked over Sionet. She was tired, but wouldn't give anyone the controls, no matter that there were at least four people who could pilot her ship. Titan red hair was pulled back in a braid that hung down her back, wisps that had escaped gently brushed her forehead. Her eyes took on a silver glow from the light of the gauges as she looked them over again. Sionet's left hand tapped out a metal-on-metal tune, as she glanced around her. Sionet had lost her whole left arm to the Sith while helping a master get supplies during the Jedi Civil War.

"As well as blazing new routes ever goes. Why did that kid chose my ship, again?"

Saluira sighed. As much as she loved Sionet, her mercenary attitude could be a pain. "Mical chose you because the Order and the Republic doesn't have any ships to spare, and out of the four of us, you have the largest ship."

Sionet waved her hand, but dropped the argument. She was getting paid, and hanging out with her friends. Right now, things were calm, so Sionet figured that she had it made on this job. Before she could ask about the others, one of her alarms shrilled. Swallowing her curses, Sionet checked to see what the problem was. She gritted her teeth when she saw that there was a planet in the way. Punching the comm, Sionet jerked her head at Saluira to sit.

"Everyone, strap into something." Turning off the comm, Sionet dropped them out of hyperspace, into a light asteroid field. Far away, she could see the planet, along with other ships of a cruder, more angular design than most. Weaving through the field, Sionet made her way over to the planet without much fuss. One or two small asteroid hit the back of the ship, causing the engine to increase in pitch.

_Last time I heard that, I had to drop a lot of money to fix her up. Let's hope it won't be too much._ Clear of the field, Sionet made to dock with out fuss. After docking was done, Sionet got up and made her way to the engine room, passing the rest of the crew on her way.

"That wasn't too bad." Shinobu, taller than Saluira, but willowy in stature with her short black hair pulled back in a ponytail, green eyes laughing as she watched Sionet.

"Better than the last time Atton flew after saying that line." Isled was between Shinobu and Saluira. Her black hair pulled up into a wrapped top knot, with two braids on the left side of her face. Her black eyes checking everyone for bruises.

"Thanks a lot, babe." Atton stood up, from his chair, straightening his brown ribbed jacket. "Where are we, anyways?"

"According to the rather snippy woman on the other side of the comm, we're at the Eavesdown Docks on the planet Persephone. Core looking world, too." Sionet passed the others to finish her trip to the engine room. Taking a quick glance, she could tell that the hyperdrive was what needed repairs. Sighing, she poked though it, figuring out what parts she needed. Sitting back on her heels when she finished, Sionet could tell that nothing major was damaged. But, they still needed the parts and time. Something that, if she were to believe Mical, they didn't have a lot of.

Making her way to the cargo bay, she could see the others, gathering. "Basic repair, little time tuning, and we should be able to fly out of here in no time."

"But we don't have that much time!" Mical was worried enough that he almost started pacing.

"Well, we're gonna have to make time. I told you that this was dangerous work, and we're lucky to get out of that mess up there with such little damage. Galvin and I will go exploring; see if there are any vendors that know ship parts." Sionet stopped when the crew exploded into complaints. After a few minutes, she shouted loud enough to get everyone to quiet down. "He and I are the only ones that don't have a picture to go with our reps. I'll call you all as soon as we get information."

Before there could be anymore arguments, Sionet grabbed Galvin and walked down the ramp into the Eavesdown Docks. The place was a bustle with different people, just like any other shady dock that she'd been in. The main difference was that this one had tech that she'd never seen, people that dressed oddly and ships of different designs than she would have believed possible. Other things were the same, though. The smells, people selling wears, and people willing to talk with the right grease. As it turned out, Republic credits were known, but rare enough that one credit told her everything about this planet and universe as well.

Glancing at the ship that she had stopped in front of, she could tell that it looked a little like hers. She shrugged and put it behind her. Pulling out her comm, she told the others that there was a man by the name of Badger who knew the parts vendors pretty well.

"Badger? He'd wouldn't know a capulizer if it bit him."

Surprised at the voice, Sionet turned to face a young woman, dressed in a smudged mechanic's jumpsuit and a T-shirt. She was holding a colorful, slightly ragged parasol to shade her face from the planet's harsh sun. "What do you know about Badger?"

"That you don't deal with him unless you have to."

Sionet was getting annoyed at all the people listening in to her conversations. Looking up, Sionet could see a tall man with short brown hair. His brown coat had a few patches and what looked like a piece of duct tape one the left arm. A dark colored shirt, light colored pants, boots and a holster strapped low on his hips.

"I suppose that you know where to find decent parts?" Sarcasm dripped from her words, but seemed to bounce off the man.

"I don't know too much, but Kaylee here might help you. Provided one of the others can go with her." Looking over the woman, the man stuck out his hand. "Mal Reynolds."

"Sionet Antilles." Sionet took the hand, and was glad to see the firm grip. _This is a man who knows what he wants, and protects what he has. Odd, finding a kindred spirit out here._

Mal let go of her hand, sensing that she was an honest enough woman. Glancing down at Kaylee, he asked her. "You got a preference who comes? Other than the doc, he's busy."

Kaylee sighed. She knew Jayne should learn how to duck. It would cause less trouble in the long run. "I'll take Shepard Book, if he's willin'. You gonna come too, cap'n?"

Sionet hid a smile at the cute face that the woman who Reynolds had called Kaylee was making at him. She could see him trying to stand firm, but slowly breaking down.

"Fine." Pulling out a small black box, he spoke into it for people called Wash, Zoë, and Book. Sionet waited till she could see two more people walking down the ramp. The woman was tall, dark skinned with her curly hair pulled back. She was dressed like Mal, and Sionet sensed that they had a long history. The man next to her was shorter, pale, with blonde hair and horrible taste in shirts. Seeing them together, Sionet figured that they were married. _An odd couple, to be sure._ But given what she had back on her ship, it wasn't that far out.

The man Sionet believed to be Wash jerked his thumb back at the ship. "Book's busy with River. She's antsier than usual today."

Sionet jerked her head to lead them back to her ship. No one really talked, but not for lack of trying on Kaylee's part. She was a bundle of happy energy. Sionet smiled a couple of times, drawn into her bubbly personality. Back at the ship, Sionet stepped into the cargo bay. It was quiet, till she heard a female voice yelling. A male voice responded, and Sionet figured that Shinobu and Carth were at it again.

"Don't mind the background noise. Three recently married, kinda makes it loud." In seeing the knowing look on their faces, she knew that her guess towards Zoë and Wash was right. "Galvin, you can show whoever wants to go to the kitchen. Kaylee, you can follow me to the engine room."

The group spilt, Zoë and Wash getting food, Kaylee and Mal going to the engine room. On the way, Mal looked over at Sionet. "Haven't seen a Firefly-class this heavily modified before, looks like she'd hold up well, though"

Sionet frowned slightly. She'd never heard her ship refered to as a 'Firefly-class'. "I bought her from a man who was… nuts." Sionet tossed Mal a small grin. Coming to the engine room Kaylee stopped in the middle of the hall, almost being run over by the other two.

"Kaylee, what in the specter hell do you think you're doing?" Mal was a little worried by the look of wonder on her face. He might have a hard time getting her back to Serenity.

Kaylee breathed in wonder at the sight before her. "Cap'n, I've never even seen one of these before."

Sionet muscled her way to the front of the group. There, next to the hyperdrive, was a very smug looking Atton.

"Well, thanks for saying, but I'm―"

Before he was able to finish, Kaylee ran into the engine room, past Atton without looking at him, to brush her fingers reverently over the top of the hyperdrive.

Sionet bit her lip, but it wasn't enough. She laughed so hard at the look on Atton's face that she bent over to try and get air. "That's… a… hyper…drive." Atton glared at Sionet, feeling more confused than embarrassed at Kaylee's behavior. Finally gaining enough air to stand up, she walked over to Kaylee. "She's what needs to be fixed. Can you?"

Kaylee looked up at the woman. "I… don't know. Nuthn' on Serenity looks like it would work. You can always come with us, we're headed out to Beaumonde, there would be plenty of vendors there that know what you're lookin' for"

"One problem, _boss_. We can't fly there, too little fuel if we use the engines." Atton was glancing between Sionet, the woman who was more interested in the engine than him, which hurt a little, and the man on the other side of the doorway. _Tortured past is written all over this guy._

Sionet glared at Atton, who walked out before she could yell at him. Sighing, she knew that he was right. There was no way she could get to this 'Beaumonde' without a working hyperdrive. Hearing Kaylee say something, Sionet pulled herself out of her thoughts and focused on the two people left.

"No, and that's final."

"Come on, Cap'n, they need us! We can't leave them stranded here!" Kaylee was pulling out her best begging face, one that she reserved for getting needed parts for Serenity.

Sionet laid a hand on Kaylee's shoulder, causing her to look up at the woman. "I can pay you for passage, food, and fuel to bring us back."

"Define 'us'."

All three of them looked over to see Isled waiting for an answer. She was looking stern, but the curiosity in her eyes dampened the effect.

"Ah, that would be most of us. I'm going, Carth, Atton, Jolee, Saluira, and since I know there is now way of separating any of you, Shinobu, you and Galvin will also be coming. Can always use the extra eyes when looking for a bargain."

Isled eyed the three of them before nodding. "Alright, then. When do we leave?"

* * *

I want to make this clear. I pulled a 'I reject Bioware's reality and subsituted my own' with the Revan character. Shinobu never was and never will be Revan. They look a lot alike, but aren't the same person. The Council forced Shinobu to carry Revan's memories in hopes that she would save the galaxy. She did, and Revan (who lived from the fight with Bastila) went off to fight the true Sith. Confusing, I know, but I didn't like the idea that Shinobu was Revan. Nothing like having 20 hours of character building go to waste I'm working on a short-ish one-shot piece that will help explain the whole 'Shinobu is Revan but isn't' thing. Needless to say, its taking longer than I thought it would, but it's getting there. 


	2. Betrayal and Plans

"What's with the tourist?" Jayne Cobb, always succinct, looked over the small crowd outside Serenity's loading ramp.

"We're taking them with us to Beaumonde." Ever chipper, Kaylee helped Jayne load the last of the cargo that they had gotten from Badger into the secret nook in the wall of Serenity's cargo bay.

"Why do we have to take on tourist?" Jayne spat, disgusted at the thought of sharing space with these people while replacing the cover, disguising the space so that it looked like the rest of the wall.

"You guys have this fight every time Captain brings somebody new on board." Wash was curious as to how Mal and this Sionet woman were going to get along. Last time there was a strange woman on board; the captain had somehow ended up married to her. Wash looked over to see her and the captain fighting about something. Deciding that Kaylee and Jayne had the cargo stowed away, he walked over to stand next to his wife.

Zoë watched the woman fight with Mal. Most of the time she would have kicked the woman out, but something about her caught Zoë's interest. She was a fighter, but more was the look in her eye. She'd known war a little, and hunger, but her will wasn't damaged in the least.

Sionet glared at Mal. She didn't know how one man could be so dead set in his ways. "I told you, we all need to come along."

"And I told you that there ain't room. I can take five of you." Mal wasn't yelling, not yet. If this went much farther he would start.

"Right. I know that you can take more than that. What's the price of passage for everyone?" Sionet was determined to get him to back down and take them all. Even if it meant paying twice the amount she should. When he didn't answer, Sionet figured out how much she would ask in his shoes. She added more since she knew that there would be toes stepped on. She grimaced at the total, but they needed the parts and this was the only way. Pulling out half of what she added in her head, she dumped the amount into Mal's grip. "That should be enough."

Mal looked down at the pile of credits in his hand. It was about half of what Serenity had cost him. Looking down at the woman, Mal knew that he'd have to let them all on.

"That's half of what I'm willing to pay, but only if everyone I want comes." Sionet waited for Mal to respond. When he did, he stepped aside and let her on.

"We have one stop before Beaumonde. Shouldn't take that long." Before Mal could leave, he spied a weird collection of metal and blue light rolling up the ramp. "Gwai-gwai long duh dong!" His first thought was that someone figured out how to make a grenade move. Before he could do anything, Shinobu moved to place her hand on the wide disk on top.

"This is T3, he's a droid. We need him to figure out whether or not the parts will work."

Jolee chuckled at the look on Mal's face. Obviously, the boy had never seen a droid before. "Don't worry son, the worst that the little guy can do is curse you out. Much beyond that, he's mostly harmless." Mal shot the older man a hard look, but was ignored.

"He's a cute little thing." The blue lens glowing at her had helped Kaylee overcome her first reaction to the guy. Closer up, she could tell that he was harmless. Catching movement in the corner of her eye, Kaylee looked up to see River walking down the stairs dressed in a floating skirt and combat boots, for once. Kaylee was glad that River was finally wearing the boots. It got cold out in the black, and she didn't want River losing any toes. "Come over here River, you have to see this."

River stood away from it, tilted her head in a way that made the passengers look at each other. Was she a Jedi? It looked like she could read thoughts. Shinobu knew that head tilt far too well. Bastila had used it quite often when they had first met. "It's not effective, it's too much it's own. It's not effective." She didn't leave, though. She just kept watching it and everyone else, but mostly the droid.

"Guess that means you think he needs a memory wipe." Isled looked up at Atton who was eyeing the girl with a look that was close to awe.

"She figured that out without the trash heap letting out one beep. Told you." Looking down at Isled, he gave her a lopsided smile.

"Hey Wash, has the Ambassador docked yet?" Mal was moving away from the, whatever it was. Anything that interested River should be treated like a grenade.

"Not yet. I was… never mind, she just docked." Wash could hear Inara's shuttle docking with Serenity.

"An ambass- ow!" Atton earned looks from most of the people standing in the cargo bay. Rubbing the side that Isled had elbowed him in, he glanced down to see her glaring at him. "I was thinking that you could… you know… talk, politics or somethin'."

"Nice save." Isled muttered under her breath.

Hearing the commotion, Book decided to wander down to see what was going on. Simon was still straightening up the infirmary after stitching up Jayne. Seeing so many people, Book did a quick count to learn that they had just enough blankets for everyone. "I see more have joined us for this trip."

Jolee looked up at the sound of the voice. He was glad to see another man closer to his own age.

"We're in need of parts, and Kaylee told us that we'd find them on Beaumonde." Shinobu was quick to fill the man in. She looked past him when she saw a lovely woman with long, wavy black hair appear behind him. She could hear Atton start to whistle, but was cut off when Isled elbowed him in the gut.

"Everyone, this is Inara." Wash quickly made the introductions, seeing that Mal was already gone. "Now with you here, we can head out."

Mal didn't know what was happening. One minute, they were just trying to get another job, the next, he was taking on tourists, and a lot of 'em. Jayne wasn't thrilled, but accepted it as much as he ever did when he saw the money. Apparently, these folks were rich and generous. Their captain, Sionet, had paid him more than enough for the trip, and told him that he'd get the other half when they got back to her ship. Anyone willing to pay that much was a guest on Serenity. It had disconcerted him that her taste in ships was like his. The major difference was taste in crew.

She didn't have any crew. It didn't take long to figure out that she worked on her own, and was flying the rest around because of history and good old platinum. Three of the women, what were their names… that's right: Isled, Saluira, and Shinobu. They were like sisters to Sionet, and vice versa.

It was tight, but he was okay. After spending time in Jayne's and Canderous's company, he figured that he would take over for Wash at the helm for the rest of the trip. It was like having two Jaynes. Two colorfully mouthed men who said things the way that they saw them. Crudely too.

There was the old man, Jolee. He'd taken to Book, and was discussing history, young people, or something like that. Whenever there was a break, the old man would either threaten Canderous, or threaten Jayne. Since Canderous just ignored him, Jayne followed and didn't break the old man's jaw. Not that Mal was really sure he could, there was a strange feeling that he got whenever he was around the old coot.

The blonde man, Mical, had taken to the doc. They were talking about different wounds and what to do. The man that had been in the engine room, Atton was his name, would joke, call them names. That would make Jayne laugh, then Isled would come in and drag her husband away and shoo Jayne out.

And of course, there was River. Girl didn't know what was going on. Mal mused that she was better off. Any sane person was going to go nuts. She was already there, so she could cope. For a while, she just watched. Then she launched into a discussion with some walking tin can that they had brought. It beeped at River, and after a few minutes, they were talking hyperspace routes, which engines were better, and a bunch of other things that Mal had never heard about before.

Then there was the uptight woman who Sionet had added at the last minute, Bastila. She would try to talk to Wash, but didn't like his humorous way of seeing things. Yep, he was just going to stay in the cockpit for the rest of the trip. Safer, less crowded that way. _Or it was._ Looking up at the sound of the door opening, he saw Sionet poke her head in

"Mind if I sit in here? The others are taking up the rest of the ship." Motioning her to the copilot's seat, she took it and looked out into space. She didn't talk, just sat there. After twenty minutes or so, she stared humming. The simple rich tones mildly surprised him. She was built like a fighter, lean and tough.

The voice showed that she was still a woman. Soft and quiet, it rose and fell with the song. Soft and gentle to the ears.

Before he could ask her what the song was, an alarm next to his elbow went off. She looked at him, curious, but not worried. It wasn't till the blonde man came running in did she start to worry.

"What is it?" Brisk as ever, the soft side of her was shoved under hard layers of uncertainty and fear.

"The vision… this is it…" The man looked out over space. "Men who aren't men. Just husks of emotion: hate, anger, lust, hunger. Most of all, hunger."

Mal knew what the man was describing. Fear overcame him. Hadn't had to deal with those _things_ enough? Looking over the instruments, all he could tell is that a large ship was coming at them. Within a minute, the scanners began to show a ship that looked more like a flying city block than a space ship. Sighing in relief, Mal pulled the comm. to contact Wash

"Wash, get up here."

Sionet moved so that she could look over the scanner. "Now that is one ugly ship. Is it a ship?" She looked at Mal, who nodded while he got up to clear the way for Wash. Wash sat down, scanned everything, then looked up at Mal.

"They haven't spotted us, I think. That smaller ship there is keeping them busy. If we take a wide turn around them, then we shouldn't have to worry." Wash quickly took the ship off auto-pilot, then begun to veer off in a wide arc. No one made a sound till they were past the Alliance cruiser. "Well, that was interesting."

"In a 'oh Gods, we are going to die' sort of way." Sionet shook her head to hide her smile. Their pilot was something; she'd give him credit for that. Turning back to Mical, Sionet studied him for a minute. "By the sounds of it, they were human."

"They weren't what I was sensing. Something there wasn't human or hadn't been human." Mical didn't know another way to put it. It didn't help that Sionet preferred to act dense towards visions.

"Mal, the ship…" Wash was looking over the scans again. His throat closed as he realized what had crippled the smaller ship.

Mal nodded. "Reavers hit it, not too long ago either." _It's getting pretty crowded in my sky._

"Reavers?" Sionet and Mical asked in unison.

"Humans that went to the edge of space, saw nothing, and went crazy." Wash glanced back at the two staring at them. "You don't have Reavers?"

"No, just Sith. Sounds about the same, both are crazy." Sionet glanced at Mical. She knew that he was going through their minds for anything about these Reavers.

After he was done, he excused himself. Sionet followed him towards the kitchen. "What did you find?"

"Huh?" Mical didn't seem to focus on her, even as he was stating right at her.

Glancing around to make sure that no one else could hear; Sionet lowered her voice to a hiss. "I know you went through their minds, so tell me."

The glazed look on Mical's face never left. He placed his hand on her forehand, and gave her all the thoughts that he had gathered. Sionet's knees almost buckled when she learned about them. They hadn't just gone crazy, they had gone stark raving mad! Reavers would eat the flesh of a live man, woman, or child. Then it would use their skin to make their clothes. _They were far worse than the Sith_, Sionet thought. The Sith still had thoughts. The Reavers didn't… they only felt.

Sionet glanced at Mical, who was blinking the glazed look away. "That's what your vision was about? Those… _things_ coming to our space?"

"I… I don't know. I thought that was what was going to happen, but now that only seems like a possibility. I think that this crew might have something to do with these Reavers."

"You mean you think they will kill all of them?" Sionet eyes grew round at the thought.

"No… they might, but I think they will end up going at the source, attacking that. They will take many down in the process, but they won't eradicate these Reavers."

"So, where we headed again?" Wash looked up at Mal from Serenity's controls.

"Jakuren. There." Mal tapped on the keyboard for a second to bring the planet's location onto a screen to Wash's left. It was more of a small moon than a planet really. Wash knew that Terri-forming had taken in only a few places. The rest of the moon was dry and barren. There was barely enough farmable land for the people on Jakuren to survive. Add to that a sleazy, corner cutting cheap skate of an owner… well; it didn't surprise Wash that the moon was in its sorry state.

Wash looked up from the map when he heard footsteps coming up the few stairs that lead to Serenity's cockpit. He smiled at Zoë who nodded at him while placing her hand on his shoulder, then looked at Mal. "Mule's loaded and Jayne's ready to bury it."

"He won't be needing the shovel." Mal suppressed a grin at Zoë's 'have you lost your mind sir?' expression. "Badger's dealt with the owner before. For the horrible leader that he might be, he's never cheated Badger's men."

"Sir, we ain't Badger's men." Zoë was sure that Mal had lost his senses for this job. He'd never trusted Badger's word before.

"He don't know that." The right side of Mal's lips quirked up in his version of a smile. Wash and Zoë looked at each other, knowing that smile. Mal was planning something, and only time would tell what that something was.

"Zoë, you and Jayne'll come with. Wash, try to land behind this hill line. No sense in letting him see a good ship." Mal made his way down to the large cargo bay that made up Serenity's belly. Jayne was already there, strapping a shovel to the mule. Canderous stood and watched, but Mal could tell that he had helped load up the mule.

"Jayne, you can put the shovel away." Mal watched as the bigger man straightened up from the mule.

"Wh-huh?" Jayne stared at the captain. Jayne always buried the goods before Mal and Zoë went out to deal. It was what he did.

"I said that we don't need to bury the goods, so you can put the shovel away."

"Whatever." Jayne undid the knots and put the shovel away. "We just gonna drop off the goods, no payment?"

"No, we're going to give a show of good faith."

"Which translates to 'we're going to act stupid.'" Canderous chomped on his cigar. He'd thought that the captain of this ship would have had more brains than to walk into this without hiding the goods.

"I'm with the big old guy on this one." Jayne looked down a little to see Mal staring at him.

"This ain't up for discussion, and my ship ain't a council." Leaving it at that, Mal turned to face both Saluira and Shinobu.

Shinobu glared at Canderous. "I'm with the captain. If you show that you trust the other man, he'll be more likely to trust you with future jobs."

"Shinobu's right. And if he doesn't, then you haven't lost anything in the end." Saluira watched them all with high humor. There had been more than a few toes stepped on, but most of them had belonged to Canderous and Jayne, so no one felt bad.

"Except the money." Jayne was ignored by three of the four and Canderous didn't feel like picking a fight with Saluira near by. She'd already proven that she could beat Isled pretty handedly in a spar. And Canderous knew that Isled was no lightweight.

_"We're coming up on atmo. Everyone might want to strap in for a little while."_ Wash's voice cut out of the intercom, leaving the five-some to find a place to strap themselves in.

The landing was uneventful, which gained Atton more ribbing from his wife. After offering to help with the goods, Mal told Isled that only three were needed. Nodding, she watched as they took off in the mule, wondering why things wouldn't add up. It was simple enough, but that was the surface. Looking at the other Jedi she traveled with, Isled could tell that she wasn't the only one who felt like the plan might backfire.

The young man ran up the fake marble stairs and knocked on the door to the master's tacky bedchamber. He knocked loudly, knowing that his master was going to be furious. He had a policy set that he wasn't to be disturbed from the moment in the evening he went to his bed chamber to almost noon the next day. Unless of course you were female. Shaking the thought out of his head, the young man waited until his master opened the door.

True to form, the man was clad in a hastily donned robe and looked fit to kill. The young man could spy the bright red paint and cheap gold leaf on the walls. Without saying a word, the young man held out a letter from Ajen, who was manning the scanners.

Akando ripped the piece of paper out of the boy's hand. He didn't see the long paper cut and beaded drop of blood left behind, not that he would have cared. Reading it quickly, it simply said that a Firefly-class ship was landing out by the usual spot that Badger made his exchanges. Badger had never used Firefly-class ships before, so Ajen had run a background on this one. "Firefly-class Serenity, owned by one Malcolm Reynolds. Reynolds served in the war, Independent." Dismissing the boy with a wave of his hand, Akando closed the door and returned to the chamber.

He ignored the blonde in his large bed. She was useful, and knew when to make herself scarce. He could see her out of the corner of his eye, quietly, obediently waiting for him to finish and come back to bed. Akando turned his head so that he couldn't see her pleasing form under the sheets. He reread the missive, mulling over in his mind this development.

What to do about this Reynolds. He wasn't one of Badger's men, he was a freelancer. Badger knew better than to send _his_ goods on any old ship. No telling who or what could get into them. He'd teach Badger and this 'Malcolm Reynolds' a lesson in how to treat his property.

Pulling out a comm. box, Akando called the head of his boys. "Ocann? We have a possible… situation. Yes, I know it can't be one of the peasants. No, this one is from off planet. Yes, I thought you'd like the option to take care of him. No, I have a better idea. While you're readying the lads, make sure to grab one of the ration bars from Badger's last shipment. Bring that with you when you come up.

Mal watched as fifteen men rode up the small hill. He cursed Badger, this 'Akando' and himself for not listening to Zoë and burying the goods. Badger had told them that he and Akando had been doing business for a while now, and that his scanners didn't reach this far out. Judging from the muscle, Badger was wrong on that last part of his intel. Mal glanced over at Zoë, who was watching the men ride up. She had her 'I really don't like this sir' face on. Mal grimaced and looked over his shoulder to see Jayne and Vera, Jayne's favorite huge gun, watching over the goods.

Turning back to the riders, Mal spotted who he thought was Akando. The man was tall, arrogant, and got under Mal's skin fast. It took him a minute, but Mal figured out why: the other man was a slimy, grubbing man who felt everything was his by right. He was glad that the other women were back on the ship. Though Mal had no doubt the female passengers would take exception to that. He knew that Isled had wanted to help; claiming that her gut was telling her something was off. Mal also knew that her husband would murder him if anything had happen to her. And judging from the look in this guy's eyes as he looked a Zoë, something would have happened.

Zoë looked over the men again. She didn't like this. They were out numbered out gunned, and the land was flat so that the horse's had the advantage over her , Jayne, and Mal who were on foot. Glancing at Mal, Zoë could see that she wasn't alone in her train of thought. In seeing his face cloud over, Zoë became even more worried, believing that Mal was going to do something stupidly heroic and get himself shot for it. She looked at the man who Mal was watching and stiffened when she saw him appraising her like she was on sale, then dismiss her. If it wasn't for the fact the man was planning on paying them, he would have been dead.

Jayne felt smug as the horsemen came over the hill. _Knew we should've buried the goods._ Readying Vera for the fight to come, Jayne waited till either Mal gave the signal to fire or made one of the other men fire first.

Akando looked down on the tall man with brown hair and a long brown coat. So this was Reynolds. He looked easy enough to beat even with another, very large and dumb looking man sitting on the goods. In seeing Zoë, he took a good long look. He knew that there was a fine body there, but she wasn't his type. Too tough, not enough soft curves. "I see that you trust us." Akando moved his head in the direction of the goods.

"Yep. All there, just as Badger sent it." Mal watched as Akando swung out of the saddle. He watched as the man swaggered over. Mal fought the urge to laugh; the man was play acting as a gunslinger. Motioning for Jayne to move, Mal walked up behind the other man. He was pulling out a ration bar and sniffing it. His nose turned up and he threw down the bar.

"This food is useless! There is no way that Badger could have sent this. No deal." The man stalked off to his horse. By now, even Jayne had noticed that the other men were gathering up the goods.

"If it's useless, then why are you taking it?" Mal knew where this was going. The man must have brought an old ration bar with him and was using it to try and get the goods for free. Mal set his jaw to keep from grinding his teeth. There was no way he could call the man on the petty trick. But, he figured that there might be a way to get even with him.

"No reason to bring the animals closer to my home." With a final leer at Zoë, the man kicked his horse off towards his town.

Carth stood back and watched as his wife ran through her drills. As always, he was amazed by her acrobatic style of fighting. She'd gone through the basics, and had made her way up to tumbling across the cargo bay, landing with her feet on the side of the ship, pushing off to land on her hands and flip so that she was back on her feet. Carth remembered her relearning how to tumble and perform hand springs back when she was training as a Jedi. Back when she was carrying Revan's power and memories. Now, she was back to only being herself. Vandar and the other Masters had set up the memories to fade after Malak's death.

Looking up at movement, Shinobu smiled up at Carth. The admiral of the Republic fleet; her love, lover and husband. She still couldn't get over her giddiness at that last fact. Bastila had tried to talk her out of it, warning that she still had a grasp of the Force. Shinobu had listened, but she still married him. She and Bastila got along better now, without the bond they didn't feel so tied to each other. Her smile spread into a grin when Carth came down the stairs.

"Hey, flyboy."

"Hey Beautiful." Carth reached over to pull her to him when three figures came into view. Not wanting to deal with Jayne's leering, Carth moved so that his arm was over her shoulder. They moved to the side so that the mule could drive up into the cargo bay. Looking at the captain's face, Carth could tell that things hadn't gone well.

"Didn't get paid, huh?" Carth winced at the voice overhead. Everyone looked up to see Sionet leaning on the stairs handrail.

Mal didn't say a thing. That silver gaze had a habit of knowing too much in the short time that they had known each other. Moving to secure the mule, he looked up again to see her and Zoë talking. He could see Sionet glower at the wall, before a spark of malicious humor lit her eyes.

"Hey, captain, mind calling a meeting? I think I have an idea of how to give this guy a taste of his own medicine." Sionet didn't give him a chance to ask, running up the stairs to talk with Simon and Mical.

Sionet stood at the head of the table. Saluira, Shinobu, and Isled were already there, planning out a lot of the work. Simon had come back after looking though his stores. Waiting till everyone filed into the room, Sionet looked at Mal as she spoke.

"I know that you want to get back at him, or at least get your money out of him. Seeing as how I can't stand people who are petty enough to think the 'switch food bars' trick works, I think I have a plan that you'll want to listen to."

"A sad little king of a sad little hill." River had whispered it loudly enough that Serenity's crew could hear it. Wash, Zoë, Simon, and Kaylee looked at each other before looking back at the four women at the other end of the table. They remembered the last time that she had said that had been to Badger's face. The others wandered next to the kitchen side of the room to listen.

"And what plan is that." Mal was curious now. He also knew that he could squash the plan if he didn't like it.

"Poison." Sionet looked over at Simon who shook his head. "Or, so the man thinks."

"Alright, let's hear all of it." It sounded like it had potential. It also sounded like it wouldn't cost him anything.

"The plan is simple." Isled took over the discussion; looking like the general she had been briefing her troops. "Shinobu will sneak into Akando's bed room and pretend to poison his drink, dinner, or whatever might work. As she leaves, she will make sure to let one of the servants see her. Try as they might, they won't find anything wrong."

"Because there won't be anything to find." Zoë was re-examining the woman who was talking. She had believed that the woman had known war, and beyond. But this wasn't what she expected. Calm, reserved, clear. Ever inch screamed general. Looking up at Mal, she could see that he thought the same.

"Exactly. The day after Shinobu does her part, Saluira with go and speak to Akando directly. Jolee and Canderous will go with her, to make sure that she doesn't get jumped by that man. She'll tell him that he was poisoned, and that she has the only recipe for the antidote memorized. The price will be what he should have paid today. He'll get that, then met us in a location that will be to our advantage. Is there any place with a rockier terrain than here?"

Wash pulled out the map that she had requested. "Yeah, not that far either." Pointing it out on the map, Wash and Isled debated a few locations, with one or two comments from others in the group.

After agreeing on one place, Isled looked up at Simon and Mical. "Can the two of you whip up something that looks like an antidote?"

"Yes." Simon murmured, already filing though what he'd need. "I'll need something that has a sickly sweet smell. Then I should be able to dye water so that it looks like a common antidote."

"We still have that kassar root paste." Mical looked over at Atton, who made a face. They had used it when the smuggler had burned himself messing with Sionet's ship. The root had helped with the shoulder injury he'd received from Sionet.

"Good. Any objections?" Isled's demeanor reverted back to her quiet and playful attitude. She hadn't had to say much on this trip, only when one of her crew got out of hand. Which was still more common than anyone really wanted.

"Nope." Mal was impressed. They were blackmailing the guy with nothing. It took a rare mind to not only come up with that but to pull it off. Not only was it a good plan, it was fairly simple. Something that he'd never really achieved. The worst that happened was that they didn't get paid. After Sionet's donation, that wasn't that big a deal. But there was the principle that no one messed with him when he was being on the level.

Sionet nodded to him, and began to talk the details over with Saluira, Isled, Shinobu, Mical and Simon. The others had figured out that they weren't needed, so they worked their way out of the common, grabbing food as they left.


	3. Stealth and Threats

Coming to the estate, Shinobu made her way inside without difficulty. It looked more like a large house than an estate, but Shinobu dismissed it for more important matters. Looking around the kitchen, Shinobu waited for two servants to leave before she moved. Servant talk has value if one is willing to listen.

"So early! You'd think the man didn't have a planet to run." The smaller woman was bent over the stove. Shinobu couldn't tell what she was cooking.

"He doesn't." The older male servant looked up from the boot that he was polishing. For a second, Shinobu was worried that her stealth generator had failed, but the man bent back to his task.

"I wish that someone could beat it into that thick skull of his that he has others to worry about." The contents of the bowl she was stirring sloshed dangerously close to the edge.

"Nothing's going to change. The man has enough guns that we can't do anything. He knows that he has us overpowered, so he doesn't care about us talking!" The man scoured the boot hard enough that Shinobu fancied he'd leave a hole in the side.

Moving past their grumbles, Shinobu felt a twinge at not being able to help. Sure, he was bad, but he was better than no one. She had a hunch that whoever would come to power next would be worse than the man who was in power now. She ventured up the stairs, pausing as someone passed her, waiting till there was no one to tread on the squeaky boards.

She would be glad when this was done. It hadn't been till she had gotten inside the house that she remembered that she didn't like stealth. She could use it, was good at it, but she didn't like it. Pausing at a pair of large doors, Shinobu walked to it and listened. In hearing the unmistakable sounds of two people making love, Shinobu jerked back in disgust. This wasn't in the plan. They figured that he wouldn't have been in the room at this hour. After what the servants had talked about, Shinobu figured that he'd be asleep.

Shinobu waited until she couldn't hear anything coming from the bedroom. While it would be a good idea to move in while Akando was busy with his lover, Shinobu just couldn't. So she sat and waited for the noise to stop. An hour later, the room fell silent. Waiting a little more, Shinobu made sure that the lights in the hall were off before she tried to pick the lock. In two seconds, the mechanical lock disengaged from the wall. Shinobu silently thanked Mission for showing her how to pick these old locks.

Making her way into the room, Shinobu spied a glass on the side table. Ignoring the naked man and woman tangled into one form on the bed, Shinobu poured the 'poison' into the glass. Fingering the small dagger at her side, Shinobu decided against gelding the man. The whole point was to leave the man in one piece, so to take his family jewels from him wouldn't be helpful. Satisfying, but not helpful.

Making her way out of the room, Shinobu debated about who to show herself to. Most of the guys… Shinobu shuddered at the thought of what would happen if they caught her. Even the male servant that she'd seen earlier proved a problem. Deciding on the female servant, Shinobu made her way down to the kitchen again.

There, she waited until the woman was alone. Then, turning off her generator in the shadows, Shinobu walked up to the woman. Hearing footsteps, the woman turned. In seeing Shinobu, she clapped her hand over her mouth. Shinobu waited till the woman began to scream in earnest before running out of the house, into the shadows of the night.

"Well, phase one is done." Shinobu stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her shoulder muscles. She'd been afraid that someone might discover her while she waited in front of Akando's bed room. Carth moved behind her to rub her shoulders. Sighing in pleasure, Shinobu leaned back into him.

"Good. Now we wait till morning and Saluira, Jolee, and Canderous will go tomorrow." Isled placed her hand on Shinobu's forearm. "Take a nap, you could use one."

Pausing to yawn, Shinobu nodded and got up. She and Carth left the kitchen area together.

"Everybody's getting lucky on this gorram boat but me." Jayne scowled into his mug.

"You'll just have to try you're luck off ship." Mal got up to relive Wash again. He'd been spending more time up there, trying to wipe the unholy grin on his face. _Poor man; scorned four creative women he's never met. I'm glad that they came after all. Sure, we could've handled the man, but this is so much more fun._

Saluira rested her hand on her hip as she looked over Akando's 'estate'. "The man sure does think highly on himself, doesn't he?" It was little more than a large mole hill. It was big enough for a house with a few rooms. Saluira's hand passed over her lightsabers before walking to the bodyguard out in front. She still hadn't gotten use to them after the Mandalorian War. Sure, she had gotten out early due to injury, but that didn't stop her from feeling the pain of what had happened afterwards keenly.

"You the new dancer?" The gruff man in front of the door eyed her curves in a way that made her want to pull out her lightsabers.

"No, I need to talk to Akando." Saluira didn't shy away, but she made sure to get the guy to talk to her face.

"No can do. Not without a favor." He leered down at her, reaching for her chest. In a quick move, Saluira had him pinned against the door, his arm twisted around behind at an angle just before breaking.

"Alright, then. If you let us pass, I won't be forced to break off your arm to use as my key." Saluira smothered the smirk on her face when the guy babbled something out. He was scared enough that Saluira knew he wasn't going to try anything. Letting go of his arm, the man opened the door and motioned them in while babbling incoherently.

Inside, Saluira waited a moment for her eyes to adjust. She didn't need that long, but she didn't know how long it took Canderous's implants. She could see a hall lead to what was called the 'audience chamber'. It was really just a big room with one of the largest thrones she'd ever seen. "Jolee, do you see that? I think that it's bigger than what the wookiees have!" Saluira was surprised that he would waste money on something that… well, tacky.

"Boy must have issues. Anything that big only makes him look smaller." Jolee snorted as they walked into the room. Sure enough, the man that the captain had described as tall was dwarfed by his chair. He looked over at Canderous, who had his gun out but pointed down, to Saluira, who looked unarmed. Jolee knew that she kept her two lightsabers: one a pale jade, the other was silver that faded to an almost aqua color, hidden and out of sight.

"How dare you come onto my estate without my permission!" Akando stood up from his chair. He didn't know what the woman wanted, but he did know that he wanted no part of it. "Boys, capture her." She was well built, and would serve him for a time. The men who had been lazing around grinned at each other. Oh, she wouldn't be killed, but while they were wrestling her, they could have their own fun. One of the burlier men got up at jumped at Saluira.

Due to the man's size, he wasn't that fast. Waiting, Saluira nimbly sidestepped him in the last second, causing him to run past her, into the wall behind her. _One down…_ looking at the others, she could tell that no one had stood up to them in a while. Pressing her advantage, Saluira moved so that Akando would be in reach of her lightsaber.

Before she got there, one of the other men stood in her way. He looked down at her before pulling out his sword. Big and heavy, Saluira knew that it would hurt if she was hit by it. Judging by the fact that it didn't have the cortosis weave on it to protect it from her lightsaber, she didn't worry about it hitting her.

"It's no feat to have taken Big Guy out. You'll have a harder time with me." The muscular man moved into a fighting position. Saluira could tell that he was proficient with both hands, since his shoulders were even in muscle mass. "The master wants you alive, pet, so no bullets. Just a good old sword." The man licked his lips at the word 'pet', and Saluira understood the double meaning.

_There is no way that I'm letting this one live. Akando has to, but Isled didn't say that went for his men too._ Pulling out her lightsabers, Saluira moved into a defensive stance. She didn't ignite them, so the other men around the room began to laugh at her choice of weapons. The man hacked at her with no real style. After gracefully dodging the first two swings, Saluira began to see what little style he used. She now ignited her lightsabers, causing their light to dance around the room. Predicting the movement, Saluira placed herself so that when she blocked the bigger blade, what was cut off didn't slice her.

In a quick move, Saluira slide her second lightsaber into the man's throat, leaving a round, smoking hole. She moved over to Akando and placed her 'saber near his throat.

Akando was stunned. This woman had brandished the strangest weapons he'd ever seen. At first, seeing the blades of jade and silver-blue light, Akando hadn't feared. Now, his best swordsman lay at his feet dead with his blade cut, down in mere seconds. Flickering his gaze back to the woman from the corpse, he growled out the question on his mind.

"What do you want? It's not my death." She could have killed him by now, there was no doubt.

Saluira simply smirked. She hadn't become brigadier general during the Mandalorian War for nothing. "No, Akando." Saluira suppressed a grin in seeing him flinch at her purr. "I don't, not now. What I do want is 30,000 platinum in exchange for your pretty head." Saluira's tone switched to low and menacing. "And you will pay me in three days."

"What makes you so sure?" Akando was furious at the outrageous statement that she made. He knew that anyone else would have asked for it there. Maybe she knew that she would never get out of there alive if she did have it.

"I know you had a break in last night. I know that you didn't find anything odd. What you don't know is that you were poisoned with a special poison of my own creation, and I alone know the antidote, which I will make up later. Tasteless, colorless, and undetectable by conventional means." Saluira smiled tightly at the man's look of absolute horror. 

"It's slow acting. In four days, you will lose all feeling in the lower half of your body down. In a week, you will be dead." Saluira knew that first part wasn't according to the plan, but she had to take some pleasure out of leaving this man alive. She knew that he would act, if only to be able to keep his whoring ways till the day he died.

"When… when do you want the money?"

To Saluira's amusement, the sound came out as a squeak. No doubt that the man would follow through. But, to be on the safe side, she'd take Shinobu, Isled, and Sionet with her. "As I said before: in three days. By that time, you should have received a map with directions. Come with the money and come alone."

She stepped back before turning off her lightsabers. The other men didn't bother the trio as they left, and Akando didn't call for her death.


	4. Fight for the Antidote

"You did what?" Kaylee would have dearly loved to see the man's face when Saluira told him her adlib.

"There are no known poisons that can cause a man to lose feeling below the waist." Simon was a bit miffed that she had strayed from the plan. He had finished making the 'antidote' with Mical's help when Saluira had come back.

"Man can't use his pecker in his final days? That's rough." Jayne never looked up from his gun.

Saluira tried to ignore him, but a small smile crept into her face. "The whole point is that this isn't a known poison. I came in with weapons that his never seen and cut down the man's best swordsman. If anything, this should guarantee that he shows up with all the money." Saluira shrugged over at Isled, who had looked over at her.

"A swordsman? I didn't think that Akando would bother to try. To anyone trained, they'd know you as a swordswoman. I can't beat you, and I've been training to for a few years now." Isled was still annoyed that she didn't seem to be getting any better against Saluira. The woman's style was killer: Fast and adaptable. Combined with her ability to read styles quickly, there were few who could challenge her without the Force aiding her.

Saluira nodded in agreement. "His best was in insult. The man didn't realize that I had speed and accuracy over him. He just charged. So, I cut his sword, then him, then I told Akando about the poison."

"The seven hells hath no fury like a female Jedi's scorn." Both Saluira and Isled looked over at Atton, who was helping himself to an oddly colored slab of protein. Both of the women grimaced at the thought of eating it.

"Jedi? What kind of prissy name is that?" Jayne looked up from cleaning his gun. As usual, the thug was using the most public place to clean his weapons in a most disgusting way.

Saluira was unperturbed by the comment. "It's in a language that you don't know for 'a person who can kick your butt any day'." Saluira had the satisfaction of seeing Jayne re-look her over. Debating if she was pulling his leg or not.

"So now we wait." Mal was re-evaluating Saluira as well. It was obvious from the way Rand had spoken that 'Jedis' were elite. To not rise to Jayne's bait was a surprise. The thug had started fights over less. Hell, he _himself_ had started fights over less.

"What's a Jedi?" Kaylee looked at Saluira, Isled, and Atton, trying to figure out who would tell her.  
Isled sighed. She wish Atton had kept his mouth shut, no matter how appropriate the quip was. "That's a sticky point. It's like a religion with powers that each member needs to have. That power is called the Force. It lets us do many things that anyone without the Force can't. With Jedi, you have a lot of variation. There are good Jedi who try to protect themselves and help whoever they can. You have evil Jedi, called Dark Jedi, who only want to control and hurt. Then you have others who put the good of the galaxy ahead of their own lives. They are Grey Knights. In the middle, between the dark and the light, the bad and the good."

"Don't worry about understanding it, kid, I'm a Knight and I don't get it half the time." Kaylee nodded at Atton, who was ignoring Isled's glare. "Just know that you've got Knights and Jedi on this boat, and the Jedi don't like to show emotion."

River merely looked through him. Atton had the strangest feeling that she knew what he was thinking, rather knew of his shields, but knew they were just that. "Bastila."

Atton nodded at the small girl. "Right, she's a Jedi. Can't take a joke either."

"Atton, you know that she has strong… beliefs about light and dark." Shinobu walked in, took one look at his plate, and proceed to turn dead white.

"Why is everyone looking at my plate like that?" Gruffly, Atton speared another chunk, popping it into his mouth despite the other women turning pale.

"Atton, its purple!" Saluira shook her head. "I mean, Sionet's cooking looks better than that!"

"One case of food poisoning, and suddenly you're banned from the kitchen for life." Despite the airy comment, Sionet didn't look at Atton's plate. She had a hunch that Saluira would want her out there with her when she had to pick up the money. She poked through the kitchen till she found something that wasn't the wrong color, or green.

"They said they had protein of every color. And you act surprised when you find purple colored protein?"

"Atton, that's not even food!" Shinobu walked over to straighten the mess that he and Sionet had left. She didn't want the crew getting mad now, not with the end so close. Plus, it was a way to let out her nervous energy. Sionet cast her a knowing smirk before eating what looked like dried fruit.

Yeah, Sionet could tell that Shinobu was edgy. Which was why she didn't clean up after herself. Normally she didn't leave a kitchen a total mess. Around her mouthful, Sionet addressed Saluira. "So, who's goin'?"

"The four of us. I told Akando to come alone, but I doubt that he will. He'll try to kill us for the antidote." Saluira grinned at Sionet's snort and eye rolling. "So I figure fifteen men, and I'd give us roughly each three to worry about."

"One more. Who's coming?" Sionet could see Isled working this over. Her grasp of tactics were scary at times.

"Gals."

"I'd say range. Three in melee is enough. Considering that's three 'sabers, we don't need more. I vote that Carth comes. Sionet has accuracy down, so power should be in the next slot."

"Gals."

"Canderous would fill that slot better. Plus, they know of him, so that might help us. A sniper could be useful." Saluira gazed over at Jayne, who'd just finished cleaning his gun. "You want to come?"

"What makes you think I know anything about sniping?" Jayne wasn't sure about going. Akando knew that he was working with Mal. It might raise ideas if he was seen.

Saluira pointed to the rifle in his lap. "That's a sniper rifle. You wouldn't be able to take such good care of it if you didn't know about it.

_Well done. Pointing out his an idiot under the veil of a complement. Girl knows how to work people._ Mal caught Jayne's eye and nodded. Jayne wouldn't have to worry about being seen, and he would get to have his fun. That would make him more livable. Jayne hadn't taken to any plan that left the man alive too well. This would ease his complaints.

"Gals!"

"What?" Saluira looked over at Atton, who had, thankfully, finished his meal.

"I'm coming too." There was something about this that didn't feel right. He wanted to be there if anything went wrong. Boy, he _was_ turning into a Jedi.

Saluira glared at Atton, but decided to redo her math rather than waste time with arguing. "Alright, then, sniper: Jayne, accurate in close: Sionet, power in close: Canderous, Atton fills in either as blaster or lightsaber." Isled nodded her head at the list that Saluira counted off on her fingers. She agreed with her that Canderous was a better candidate for this situation. "That's seven. That covers the three each plan with extra. Shinobu, are you going to take a lightsaber, or are you going to stick with the virboblade?"

"I'll stick with the blade. I need accuracy for anything I have to work. No sense in cutting off my own leg." Shinobu had finished cleaning and poured herself a cup of the tea that Inara had brewed for everyone. It was dark and fragrant. Much like the Corerllian tea from home that she missed.

With the line up figured out, Isled and Jayne chose a spot that would be best for him. He'd head out before the rest of them. Once they got there: he could tell them how many Akando had brought with him so that Saluira and Isled could make last minute plans.

"Well, no turning back now." Saluira helped Isled strap on her armor. She was hoping that Akando would be smart and come alone, but she knew that he would never do that. The man was so easy to read.

"I know. It's not like the man didn't know what was waiting for him. If he comes with his men, he made his choice." Finished, Isled checked to make sure that her lightsaber was in easy reach. Her style was different from other Jedi. Rather than use the Force to bring it to her hand, she would draw and attack in one smooth motion.

Atton finished tying his holster on. He didn't really know why Saluira wanted him to bring his blaster, but he didn't feel like trying to understand. He adjusted his clothes again so that the armor that Book had forced on him was hidden.

"These guys use old ballistic weapons, so our 'sabers can't deflect the shots. We should be able to dodge them. I doubt that the men think they are going to have a fight." Saluira looked over the small army that she had taken with her. Everyone was ready and Jayne had already headed out to his sniping position.

_"Hey, Knight, he's on the way. About twenty men and a cannon. Looks like they want to play."_

Saluira frowned. She didn't think the man had a cannon to bring. "Can you take care of the guy on the cannon when the fighting starts? And don't call me Knight."

_"That I can, Jedi."_

Saluira shook her head, muttering about men in general.

"Are we heading over the hill?" Shinobu already had her blade out. It glinted in the sun, promising death to those who ventured too close during a fight.

"That we are. Canderous, you and Sionet stay to the back. The rest of us will go into melee. Remember that the animals they ride spook easily, so be careful not to get trampled." Isled looked over at the group that made up the first wave. They readied their weapons. Looking at her range fighters, she could see Sionet perched to just be able to see over the hill.

"Here they come." Sionet pulled out her blaster, looking through the scope to see how they were armed. "Good news is that these guys learned. Bad news is that they all have guns."

"Stay back you two." Saluira lead the group over the hill. She stood there a minute, watching the other men before walking down to speak with them.

"What is this? Four men? So much for our deal!" Akando moved his horse slightly in front of the others.

"The deal was for you to come alone. I never said that I would. Besides, don't you think that twenty men are over kill?" Saluira silently directed the others to who they would attack via the Force. _Thanks be for the Force some days._

"Do you have the antidote?" Akando moved to grab one of his saddle bags. He didn't bring it forward, waiting for Saluira to speak.

"If you have the money." In seeing the saddle bag thrown to the ground, Saluira used a little bit of Force to make it spill. There, lying in the sun, was all the platinum that he had cheated Mal out of. Saluira held up the antidote where Akando could see it, but didn't more towards the man. "You have to come and get it."

"I have a better idea. Men―" Before Akando could finish his order, the man to his left fell off his horse, shot though the left ear. "Snipers!" All that succeed in doing was to freak out the rest of his men.

Isled shot forward, using the Force to sweep everyone off their rides. The horses ran before any of the men could catch them. Running, Isled drew out her 'saber, killing the man closest to her.

Saluira used the Force to drag Akando and rope next to the only tree in the small valley. There she tied him up to save him for later. Saluira dove forward, scoping up all of the coins from the ground, rolling away from one of the men who tried to hit her over the head with his rifle. She stuffed the money into a pocket before lightly spinning on her feet, taking the man's head off with the dance.

Out of the corner of her eye, Saluira could see that the cannon stood unmanned. Grateful that Jayne saw the value in her orders, Saluira turned her mind to the battle at hand.

Shinobu ran forward with Isled. She jumped, landing on another man's shoulders. She heard a sickening crack as she pushed off to land on her feet. Swinging the sword around, Shinobu used the momentum of her jump to deliver an upper cut to the man, cutting off an arm, causing him to bleed out.

Atton waited till the men had been thrown from their horses. He used the Force to throw one man into a rock with a resounding splat. Knowing that the man was dead, he focused on the two dodging Canderous's wild shots. Throwing them into stasis, Atton knew that they would be dead before long. He turned to face one who had gotten past the girls, and was about to run his 'saber through him when the man dropped dead at his feet. Atton could sense Jayne grinning behind his sniper rifle.

Sionet waited till Isled pulled them down. Slowly, she worked her way out to in. Picking three off by the time Saluira got involved in the fight. Sionet sighted another through her scope, but he kept dodging Isled's attacks. _Man ain't too bad. Fear is making him move pretty fast._

Canderous was having a great time. There was no honor in these men living. Men who followed a weak leader. Two out of the four he had been aiming at dove out of the line of fire, but then froze so that he could easily mow them down. 

Jayne was having a great day. Three men were down, the rest engaged so that he would hit one of the others that he was working with. He had seen Saluira scope up the money so that he knew they were getting paid for this one.

Isled cut down the gun that the man tried to pull on her. She didn't feel like digging one of those bullets out of her skin. Within seconds, the other man had nicks over his arms. Isled pulled a faint, making the man dodge the wrong way. She was able to catch him in the lower torso, sliding her way up to his shoulder.

She held out her blade, waited for three of the men to surround her. With quick, precise silver thrusts and slashes, the men were down. Isled looked around and saw that the other men who were left were already losing to Saluira, Shinobu, and Atton.

Saluira glided out of the way of a rifle butt, causing it to connect with the man behind her. While he was swearing at the first man, Saluira took advantage to switch her grip on her 'sabers so that one pointed forwards and the other pointed behind her. Turning quickly, Saluira slid her pale green 'saber into the man behind her. The one who had been in front of her tried to jump out of the way: he succeed in having her blade graze his stomach. As Saluira turned back, her 'saber cut across his chest, severing his heart from his lungs.

Shinobu preformed a hand spring, landing the heel of her foot in the guy's nose. He fell back, his hand reaching up to stop the bleeding. While he did that, Shinobu did another hand spring to get to her feet and stabbed him though his side. Drawing her sword out, the man fell to the ground in two pieces.

Atton ran up to another guy trying to sneak up on Isled. Being faster than the other man, he was able to stab him through his chest as Isled was turning round to face him. They glanced around for others, but saw that all of Akando's men had died.

"Well, I guess that's it." Deactivating their blades, the four some waited until their other two members had come out from behind the small hill. Rather, Sionet came out from behind; Canderous came down from the top.

Saluira checked to make sure that everyone was intact. "No one hurt?"

Isled looked around too. She walked over the body of the man who had tried to sneak up on her. Facing Atton, she laid a hand on his cheek. "Everyone's alright, Saluira. I would have figured Canderous would have had at least one wound from this."

Sionet shrugged. Looking over at the man tied to the tree, she tilted her head, debating. "Can we leave him here?"

"It's the only way to make sure that he doesn't try something stupid." Shinobu cleaned off her blade before sheathing it.

"How dare you! I'll have your heads for this!" Akando was struggling against the ropes, but all he did was tighten them.

"Hey, what' a ya know, those knots work after all." Sionet glanced over at Atton, who refused to preen too much. He had picked them up back when he was with the Sith. _Everything has it uses_, he mussed.

"You pick things up. Unless you know exactly which tie to pull when, all you do tighten it." The man had stopped struggling, realizing that the women were quite possibly going to leave him here. Atton swallowed a laugh from the horrified look on the man's face. _Sionet might, but the others will talk her out of it._

Walking over to stand in front of him, Saluira dropped the antidote at his feet. She redid the knots so that his hands were in front of him, and his comlink was in his hands. He was still tied to the tree, which left Sionet happy.

"Call your men. By the time they get here, we'll be gone. A pleasure doing business with you." Saluira walked away, ignoring the various curses that came from Akando. Turning the rest of the group, she showed them the saddle bag. Sure enough, all the money was in it. "We have the money, let's go." Meeting up with Jayne a little ways out of Akando's sight, he grinned at Saluira before discussing the fight. Isled was the main topic with her five kills. She rolled her eyes while the men talked.

"That was smoother than any of the cap'n's plans." Jayne glanced over at Sionet, who was checking her blaster pack.

"It's a trademark. Someone messes with me; I play the same tune better." Slapping the pack back into her blaster; she holstered it so that she could whip it out again.

"That was some nice fighting back there." Canderous glanced over at Isled. "Out did me by one."

"Only 'cause I helped. Don't you mandalorians count halves?" Atton glared at him while draping an arm over Isled's shoulders.

By the time they got back to Serenity, Sionet could see the others. Motioning to Saluira, she waited till the brown-haired woman walked over to her. Picking the bag off of her belt, Sionet told the three other women to go be newlyweds before Saluira could open her mouth. She headed out to the kitchen to find Mal while the others hunted up their spouses and corners.

Wash was on the comm, waiting for the signal to take off. In hearing the others board, Mal told Wash to take off before he finished dishing up. Mal sat at the table to eat; he proceeded to jump in surprise as a bag of platinum hit the table as he was sitting down.

"There you go." Sionet glanced over at what he was eating. It didn't look too bad, so she moved to the counter to help herself to some.

"Do I want to know how Akando is?" Mal pocket the bag after checking the contents. Saluira had been right, it was all there.

"Probably not, but I'll tell you anyways. We left Akando tied to a tree with the 'antidote' at his feet, comm in his grubby little hands." Sionet tried not to choke on her food when she saw Mal's face.

"I won't be doing business here for a while." Mal went back to digging into his food.

"And why is that? I don't think that my friends and I are going to be on board that long, so we won't be stopping you." Sionet was curious as to this turn. Mal had a reason for everything. Even if no one else could see it, there was a reason.

"I don't want to deal with a man who probably figured out that he was tricked by now." Mal was still trying to wipe that unholy grin off his face. 

He wasn't able to and Sionet saw it. She grinned back, and was about to eat when a warning light went off. She glanced up, studying the light warily. "What is that connected to?"

Mal watched the light. "I don't know." Food forgotten, they both got up and walked to the cockpit, Sionet hanging back a little.

"Kaylee, we have a light that is claiming an engine problem and I'm not getting anything from the port side." Wash looked up to see the captain making his way over, Sionet behind him.

"Wash?" The one word said everything.

"Hold on, captain, Kaylee's checking her out." Wash waited while Kaylee checked to see what was wrong with Serenity. After a few minutes the lights flicked, then steadied and Wash could feel some pull form the port side.

_"The port thruster coupling is busted. I switched her over to secondary power to bypass it. We need a new one _soon_."_

Mal winced at the stress on soon. Knowing Kaylee, she would bug him until he got one. "Where can we get one?" Looking over at Wash, Mal could see his pilot thinking.

"Kaylee, where'd the busted one come from?" Wash had an idea that might work if he remembered where the part was from.

_"It says that it was made in Ikado. Ain't that near here?"_

"Jakuren orbits Ikado. We could have a new part by sundown." Mal sighed, for once a part breaking wasn't going to cost him more gas to get a new one.

"One problem, captain. The people who live there and make parts don't deal in money." That was one of the major flaws that Wash couldn't plan around.

"So, what can we trade?" The men looked up at Sionet, startled before remembering that she was there.

"We could always trade that tin can of yours. That would get us plenty of parts." Before Sionet could speak, another voice sounded from the doorway.

"No way in Hell. I'd rather fight Sion again than trade T3." Isled was as furious as Sionet had seen her in a long time. Last time she checked, only Rand could make her that furious.

"Now, sweetheart, lets not bring up old, _dead_, Sleeps with Vibroblades." Atton wasn't superstitious, but that man had made him rethink that stand.

Sionet studied Isled, wracking her brain for the name. "Sion… right, undead Lord of the Sith. I guess he's long dead Lord of the Sith now." Sionet had come across a picture of him a while back. She forced the shudders back into her mind. "Anyways, T3 is off the table, no comment." Pointing a finger at Atton, Sionet eyed him to make sure that he didn't say anything. After a few seconds, Sionet covered her eyes with her hand. "Anything else?"

Isled smirked over at Mal. "There's always Jayne."

"Nope, they wouldn't take him." Mal said the quip with a straight face, but he knew that Isled could take Jayne. What with her fancy powers, she could take any of them.

"Do they deal in trading services?" Sionet couldn't come up with anything to trade that would get them an engine part.

"Sionet, you don't mean…" Isled's face went white at the thought.

Sionet blinked, then rolled her eyes. "I was thinking of hiring out my gun. Force's sake, Isled, you've been spending far too much time around Rand."

"Hey." Atton didn't bother to protest too much. Sionet believed that he had caused Isled to go looking for Revan. She hadn't totally accepted that it was some old woman who'd she had never met.

"They might use a gun for hire. We got plenty." Mal looked over at Wash, who was thinking.

"There's bound to be someone who has a grudge. I can't really see needing to kill for a two-bit engine part." Wash was curious as to what Sionet was thinking.

"It's two-bits until it breaks. I've had to kill for less anyways, so no big deal." Sionet made to leave but Isled stopped her.

"You're not the only one, Sionet. Canderous or Jayne could easily do it." Isled could see that it really bugged her to randomly kill people.

"How about we wait and see what these people need, before we decide who gets to play mercenary?" Wash was glad to see Sionet nodding and Isled sending him a thankful glance.

"You're both right. I'll go with either Canderous or Jayne, if someone should want to hire a gun." Sionet held up her hand to stop the others from interrupting her. "I'm good with the idea of waiting to see. The captain and whoever he wants should go. I think that we could handle any job that they need."

Mal nodded, and turned to gather Zoë, Jayne, and the mule. Sionet glanced over at Isled and Atton, who were also leaving the cockpit. Shifting her gaze back to Wash, she could see him going through various files. "What are you looking for?"

"This." Happy to have found it, Wash showed Sionet the file. "There are different tribes here, and each are well known for a different part. We want to trade with the Quoi: they were the ones who made our part."

Sionet scrolled through the file. "It says that they are self-sufficient, and value trade. What do you think they could use?" She looked over at Wash, who was relaying the information to the others who had left. Wash shook his head, uncertain of what would come from the other end.

Sionet turned and fished out what seemed to be local news. "Looks like they have some raider trouble." Sionet pointed out the link to Wash, who relayed Sionet's findings. "Big guns, lots of brawn, but not much on the brains. Judging from how much they take each time, the village will be starving by next harvest." Sionet rubbed her hand over her neck. "We might want to go talk."

_"Talking isn't one of our specialties. At least not talking thugs out of their gig. Could you send someone who might be able to reason with them?"_

Sionet nodded to Wash, who told Mal. She left for the main hold, weighing in her mind who to take. More than seven total, and the raiders would get suspicious. Any less than that, and Sionet knew that someone would complain. Shinobu had more luck with that, but it would be easier to send either Bastila or Saluira. Isled would never agree to use her power to influence their minds.

Gathering everyone up, Sionet gave them the short version. "Okay, four of you should go and met up with Reynolds. The plan is to offer the people who make the part a way to see to it that they aren't raided by some small band of marauders." Sionet waited for the out burst of questions and ideas to die down. "I say four, because I think any more than seven, and these marauders won't agree to listen to you. Reynolds, Jayne, and Zoë are going, so that leaves four."

Isled nodded her head. "You're right. Shinobu, you're the best without using the Force. If any of us used the Force on these people, they would go back to raiding after we left."

Saluira tilted her head, watching the ground. "I think that these people won't react well if we show up with lightsabers. Were you able to connect to the news?"

Sionet nodded. "Yeah, there was mention of a girl who was kidnapped. Her fiancé wants her back, but there isn't a reward. Its weird, he wants her, but not enough to offer anything for her safe return.

"I think that it would be best if Shinobu, Carth, Atton and I go." In seeing Isled ready to voice a complaint, Sionet held her had up. "I know that you want to go, but unless you learned how to use a blaster better than I have…"

"Fine. But wait for a minute." Sionet hadn't bothered to remove her blaster after the fight with Akando. Isled headed to the room that she and Atton had been given, she retrieved her old virboblade. Returning with it, she could see Sionet's eyes widen. The blade was the only thing that Isled still had from the war. "Take it, you'll need it."

"Isled, are you sure?" Sionet knew that the weapon was good. Hell, she had helped Isled craft it during… Shaking her head to block the memories, Sionet took the blade with both hands. "You know that I'm going to throw punches first, right?"

Isled smiled. "Yes, I know. But you may still want a blade, just in case. It also gives you added incentive to bring yourself back in one piece. If anything happens to that blade…"

Sionet smirked. "So, I don't have to worry if anything happens to Rand?" Sionet wasn't caught by surprise when her feet were jerked out from under her. She was ready, and performed a simple back flip that Shinobu had taught her so that she could land on her feet. Coming up grinning, Sionet could tell that both Isled and Atton had tried to trip her.

"You really shouldn't use your power for such childish pranks." Bastila didn't know how she felt about standing by while others took care of what needed to be done. Bastila saw Sionet's smirk turn from friendly to something slightly colder, slightly more mocking.

"Whatever. We need to get going." Sionet strapped the blade on, giving Isled a nod before they walked down the ramp, out to where the others were waiting.


End file.
